Public faith in the President of the United States being what it has
been for the past few decades, depicting the Chief Executive as an
unambiguous hero might seem like a questionable stroke, but when he's
played by Harrison Ford, heck, anybody would vote for him. Cast as a
classic good guy, Ford is such an unimpeachable icon of action
rectitude and empathy--able to fight like a master soldier and hang on
in situations that would kill lesser men, yet still sweat and show fear
like the rest of us--that we cheer for him as he brings new meaning to
the notion of hands-on crisis.

'Air Force One,' should you somehow have missed last summer's press
blitz, is a taut adrenaline-pumper in which the Presidential jet is
hijacked by far-right Russian dissidents, who want their genocidal
leader released from prison, or else. The President, his wife, young
daughter and 50 other passengers are on board. There seems to be no way
to effect a ground-to-air rescue, the terrorists are holding all the
cards, but this particular President is unexpectedly resourceful.

An aircraft could be a pretty claustrophobic setting for an action
film, but Air Force One--as the filmmakers effectively point out--is a
plane like no other. Andrew W. Marlowe's script is ingeniously paced,
knowing when to throw in a scare, when to tighten the screws, when to
get our hopes up and when (and for exactly how long) to show us what's
going on back in the White House.

Director Wolfgang Petersen first found fame with the German submarine
drama 'Das Boot,' and while 'Air Force One' is in a different genre, he
brings similar expertise to bear. As early as Chapter 2, he's got a
thrillingly staged and edited kidnaping sequence for us (with a nice
twist at the end). The frequent gunfire is well-served by the surround
sound, with shots moving nearer and further away as things begin
heating up in Chapter 6. Petersen contrasts the brilliant orange of
flaming engines with rich, saturated blue night skies for dramatic
color contrast that adds extra depth to some beautifully crafted
action/effects scenes, like the aerial battles in Chapters 15 and 33.

Primarily, the filmmakers and their stars--including Gary Oldman, who
plays the terrorist leader with such zealous conviction that you can
almost see the character's point of view--understand that however good
the effects are, action thrillers work a whole lot better if you care
about the fate of the people involved. There's something irresistible
about the notion of the putative most powerful world in the man also
being the noblest, canniest and best. While we need to suspend a
certain amount of disbelief, the crisis-a-minute pace, ace imagery and
the appeal of Ford in top form add up to thorough entertainment.